Concerning Carols

I love carols - so in the spirit of Eid, and Christmas - MJ presents to you

The Night Before Eid

(adapted from Clement Clarke Moore's A night before Christmas)

'Twas the night before Eid, when all through the house

Only Daadima was scuttling around in her yellowed beige blouse;

The musallahs were kept neatly next to the front door,

Lord knows those mats they put out down don’t protect you from the hard eid gah floor;

The girls were all tucked in, with mendhi on their palm,

the little boys were dreaming of killing sheep at the farm;

The burfee was ready, and so was the soap,
to get rid of that sheep smell in a day… or so we hope

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

a jamaat from ladysmith were making our imaan their matter.

Away to the door I ran with my might,

To shut it quickly and switch off the light.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard from the top

a scuttle, a scurry and then a big drop .

As I reached for my gun, and was turning around,

Down the chimney Abdul Malik came with a bound.

He was dressed all in white, with a big bushy beard,

And his clothes were all messed with curry stains that smeared;

A large miswaak in his mouth, frayed and wet,

so that he looked like a Viking smoking a wooden cigarette.

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

No sign of a moustache – there was nothing to grow

He was chubby and plump, a portly sized dude,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of my mood;

He pulled out a book, perhaps a classic by Dahl?

Who was I kidding, we all knew it was the Fazaail Amaal

I appreciated what they were doing but now was not the time
So I hastily turned them out, without a good reason or rhyme

But I heard him exclaim, resentfully as he left

May Allah give you hidayat, because verily you are bereft

MJ